Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 3: Pursuit

FORTY-TWO

The basement lab wasn't much different than I remembered. More dust and webs, but otherwise unchanged. Shelves with books, beakers, test tubes, vials, and more, and a large table in the middle covered with papers and empty bottles I knew from experience had once held many of Hojo's experimental compounds. In the back stood two empty tanks just tall enough for a person to fit inside. I remembered my time in one all too well, as if it had happened only yesterday.

"You alright, Vincent?" Jessie asked.

I nodded. "Yes. The last time I was here... wasn't pleasant."

She gazed quietly around the lab. "I believe you. This place doesn't look very hospitable. We'll get Hojo, though."

"For certain," I agreed.

I'm not one for talking. I only speak when I have something to say. But what we're doing, telling this story, is important. We can't allow the mistakes of the past to happen again. So I'll share what I know. Shinra's quest for dominance over all things nearly destroyed this world. Listen well, and learn where and why they went wrong.

While Cloud, Jessie, and the others looked around the lab, I stayed near the doors we'd entered through, my eyes on the short passageway off to our left and my mind still sifting over all I'd seen during my long sleep. I could feel that we'd done this before, one way or another, more than once, like mirrors set opposite each other with us in between. But instead of the reflections all behaving the same way, each was different, acting independently and unaware of the rest.

Images flitted through my mind as I kept watch, bits and pieces of the dreams I'd had. Mostly memories of my time here, so long ago now, and of how everything had gone wrong with Lucrecia, and glimpses of the other times I'd made this same journey with Cloud and the others. But there was something else as well. Something I didn't understand. I still don't, even now. I haven't found her yet.

A woman, young like Jessie, Aerith, and Tifa. An image I saw now and then in my dreams. She was standing at the rail of a small ship as it sailed along a rocky coast, her short brown hair tumbling a little below her ears in the breeze. A simple, sleeveless blouse the color of the clear sky above her, a plain white skirt that went down past her knees, and a satin scarf over her arms as green and verdant as grass on a spring day. Brown eyes that have seen both kindness and pain. Who is she? I don't know. Maybe I never will. Or maybe I'll find her.

A sudden movement caught my attention as Cloud winced in pain and clutched his head. He'd been staring at the two tall specimen tanks as if mesmerized when the attack hit him. The girls looked at him with concern, Jessie most of all, but then the strange fit passed as quickly as it had arrived. Cloud relaxed, let go of his temples, and straightened up again. It seemed he had a history here, too.

"Cloud?" Jessie asked.

"I'm fine," he said. "Just a headache. It's gone now."

Aerith examined one of the tanks. "Hmm... looks like something's been scratched here. It says, 'We've gotta get outta here.'"

"There's another one in here," Tifa added, checking the other tank. "The message says, 'Feeding time. That'll be our chance.' So somebody was being kept here. And they must've escaped."

"I wonder what happened to them?" Jessie murmured.

Cloud shrugged. "Dunno. We'll see what else we can find later, but first let's check the study. Sephiroth could still be there."

She nodded. "Right. Lead the way, Cloud."

Sephiroth was there waiting for us just outside the study at the end of the hall, Jenova's form fading in and out over his like a phantom. She wasn't bothering to hide this time. A dangerous change. At the sight of Jenova, Jessie shivered, her face nearly as pale as mine, and reached up almost unconsciously to touch her cheek. The others didn't see it, their gazes locked on Sephiroth and the calamity, but I did. Jenova saw what she was doing as well and smiled coldly at her.